Best Director: All-Time Champs

With this year's crop of Oscar nominations, Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese now have the most Best Director nods of any living filmmakers. Here's how they figure into the all-time records:
















William Wyler (1902-1981) is the all-time champ, with 12 nominations in this category:
1936: Dodsworth
1939: Wuthering Heights
1940: The Letter
1941: The Little Foxes
1942: Mrs. Miniver (*win)
1946: The Best Years of Our Lives (*win)
1949: The Heiress
1951: Detective Story
1953: Roman Holiday
1956: Friendly Persuasion
1959: Ben-Hur (*win -- pictured above)
1965: The Collector

He also holds the record for directing the most Oscar-nominated performances; an astounding 35 nominations, with 14 going on to win.





















Billy Wilder (1906-2002) is in second place, with eight:
1944: Double Indemnity
1945: The Lost Weekend (*win)
1950: Sunset Boulevard
1953: Stalag 17
1954: Sabrina
1957: Witness for the Prosecution
1959: Some Like it Hot
1960: The Aparment (*win -- pictured above)
















Woody Allen (b. 1935) is now one of four filmmakers in a tie for third place, with seven nods each:
1977: Annie Hall (*win)
1978: Interiors
1984: Broadway Danny Rose
1986: Hannah and Her Sisters
1989: Crimes and Misdemeanors
1994: Bullets Over Broadway
2011: Midnight in Paris

Woody did not attend a single Oscar ceremony in which he was nominated; his only appearance on the telecast was in 2002 (pictured above), to introduce a montage tribute to films shot in his beloved home city of New York.





















David Lean (1908-1991):
1946: Brief Encounter
1947: Great Expectations
1955: Summertime
1957: The Bridge on the River Kwai (*win)
1962: Lawrence of Arabia (*win -- pictured above)
1965: Doctor Zhivago
1984: A Passage to India





















Martin Scorsese (b. 1942) also moves up to third place this year:
1980: Raging Bull
1988: The Last Temptation of Christ
1990: Goodfellas
2002: Gangs of New York
2004: The Aviator
2006: The Departed (*win -- pictured above)
2011: Hugo





















Fred Zinnemann (1907-1997):
1948: The Search
1952: High Noon
1953: From Here to Eternity (*win -- pictured above)
1959: The Nun's Story
1960: The Sundowners
1966: A Man for All Seasons (*win)
1977: Julia

The other gents on this list are all repeat winners. Will Woody or Marty pick up a second directing trophy this year? (I haven't seen all the nominees yet, but so far, my vote goes to Marty!)

P.S.: I'm looking at the pictures of Wilder, Allen, and Scorsese and wondering: Perhaps the key to cinematic greatness is...nerd glasses?